Losing VS Gaining

Have you ever done one of those tests online where you’re shown a sequence of images that have two meanings hiding behind an optical illusion and your personality type is determined based on which image or word you consistently see first? I have; they’re fun. You get to learn a lot about how supposedly fucked up in the head you are.

I don’t believe those results to be accurate at all.

For example, if the first thing you see is a knife on a picture that’s also featuring a bunny, you’re screwed because you’re probably a serial killer who hates all living things… Well, what if you’re a mom who spends most of her time in the kitchen, or a professional chef? Bunnies may be cute and delicious but at the end of the day you’re dealing with a knife so often that its design is pretty much imbedded in your brain.

It’s all about perception, which vastly varies not from just one person to the next but also from their surroundings. There isn’t a database of words and things with specific definition of ‘good’ and ‘bad’; it’s mostly all subjective.

Let’s look at words like losing and gaining – what’s the first thing that comes to mind in regards to each? I think it’s safe to say that the immediate reaction of each and every one of us would be to depict one as positive and the other as negative, and that decision would be solely based on whatever is currently taking place in our lives. Although ‘Losing’ by definition is more often conceived to be a negative thing, the truth is they can both be positive and negative depending on the situation.

LOSING A FRIEND VS GAINING A FRIEND – Gaining a new friend is always nice. Assuming of course they don’t turn out a piece of shit; then it’s not so nice. Losing a friend can be painful, but in the same retrospect, some friends are meant to be lost in order to make your life better.

LOSING AN ENEMY VS GAINING AN ENEMY – No one wants to have an enemy; especially not one that’s literally on your tail, so if you manage to lose that enemy, I think it’s safe to say that it’s a good thing. Gaining an enemy isn’t and we should all try to be better people to eliminate enemies from this planet altogether.

LOSING A JOB VS GAINING SUCCESS – Losing a job sucks; losing a dead-end jobs sucks a little less. Gaining success is where you want to be, obviously. Sometimes you have to lose a job in order to gain success elsewhere.

LOSING WEIGHT VS GAINING WEIGHT – To some gaining weight is a matter of health. To most others gaining weight is a tragedy. Losing weight however, while often tied to stress, still carries happy thoughts behind it because what’s better than to get rid of unwanted fat.

LOSING CONTROL VS GAINING CONTROL – Gaining control of a situation is a talent, and it feels great. Losing control of a situation is unfortunately all too common in this day and age. We are after all driven by emotions most of the time.

So as you can see, nothing is black and white; the same words can mean different things to different people and it doesn’t necessarily make them fucked up in the head.